Car racing dispute leads to Bureau County meeting

Catherine Hopkins

Wednesday

Jan 30, 2008 at 12:01 AMJan 30, 2008 at 7:56 PM

The Bureau County Fair Board and Speedway Committee are meeting tonight to try to reach an agreement. Princeton, which prohibits Sunday car racing, could annex the fairgrounds to enforce its ordinance.

A speedway debate is going round and round in Princeton.

The Bureau County Fair Board is meeting with the Speedway Committee tonight in hopes of reaching an agreement about the designated days car racing will be allowed at the fairgrounds.

"There’s a city ordinance in place not to race on Sundays," said Bureau County Fair Board President Gary Monier. "We’ve also got a gentleman’s agreement in place about not racing because of the noise and other family activities going on during Sunday. But we depend on the speedway to pay us rent and hope to reach an agreement that satisfies everybody."

Although the fairgrounds are not within Princeton city limits, Monier said the property could be annexed into it in order to enforce the ordinance that prohibits car racing on Sundays.

Monier says the speedway pays about $600 a race, which goes to the fairgrounds. Monier has appointed five directors from the fair board to the speedway committee to help iron out this issue.

Mayor Keith Cain is opposed to car racing on Sundays, so the operator of Ramer Race Promotions of Mendota, Paul Ramer said, "We’re in negotiations to have five to six specials on a Saturday night during the summer season. We want to be good neighbors and reach an agreement that’s good for everyone."

While all parties hope to reach an amicable agreement tonight about whether to hold Friday night/Saturday night races, Monier said, "No matter the outcome, it doesn’t affect the Bureau County Fair. The contracts are out and the fair will still go on."